unit 1

UNIT I

Introduction to the internet and internet education. Assignment 1: biographical sketch as soon as possible. Assignment 2: discussion questions start of week two. Assignment 3: Unit 1 extension due at end of week 3, Midnight Sunday, October 3, 1999.

You will have three weeks to complete this unit. During these first three weeks we will spend some time getting used to the process of searching the Internet and the process of browsing, and communicating with each other via E-mail and the conferencing software. You will be responsible for investigating the scientific method and learning the tools of electronic education (e-mail, conferencing software, browsers, and perhaps HTML editors and image processors) and for developing your own extension activity based on this material. The first week will be a "shakedown" cruise of sorts; if you experience any problems with the downloads, posting to MSULink, e-mail, or any other aspect, now is the time to get all of this worked out! At this stage of the game, no mistake, no lack of skills is fatal! Ask Questions!

Your first assignment for the first week is to post at MSULink a short biographical sketch of yourself, including where you teach, what you teach, at which level you teach, your educational background, and some reasons for taking this course. Feel free to add any additional information you may want to share with your co-participants. If you have an digital picture of yourself, please send that to me as an attachment or direct me to a web site where I may make a copy; if you do not have a digital photograph, please send me a paper copy to my snail-mail address (Jerry Nelson, Chair, Physical Sciences Division, Casper College, 125 College Drive, Casper, Wyoming, 82601); I will scan it to digital format. All of your biographical information and pictures will be posted to the class web site - please check this out after a week or two, read about your co-participants and get to know them

One of the best ways to get involved in the exciting debates going on in the sciences is to just jump in and begin debating! The purpose of this portion of the class is to get you to do exactly that - jump into the discussions with your colleagues, fellow students, and instructor. There are no real right or wrong answers in this debate, but I encourage you to have informed opinions. The questions posed here are also posed on the MSUlink conference site. Participation is the key word here - you are asked to make at least one posting to the ongoing weekly discussion and at least one response to or comment on someone else's posting. Your second assignment is to log on to the appropriate folder at MSULink at the beginning the second week, and start the discussion of the questions posted there:

1) Discuss the scientific method and its use in the classroom.

2) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of electronic (internet) course work.

3) Discuss the usefulness of using models of the natural world to increasing our knowledge and understanding.

Sometime by the start of the second week, begin thinking about how you would write an activity that would help introduce your students to the internet, or an activity that would help them understand the scientific method. Your third assignment is to write up this extension activity (see Chapter 5, "How to Build an Extension") and submit it by the end of unit one. Please contact me if you have any trouble getting started with this. The first extension will be evaluated and graded, but the grade will not count for or against you - this is your opportunity to have a "dry run" in order to check out how I evaluate, what is required, and in general get going on the right track.

During the first three to six weeks, locate and become familiar with the computer resources and technologies available within your school (e.g., online catalogs, periodical indexes, full-text sources, multimedia computer stations, CD-ROM stations, productivity software, online terminals, scanners, digital cameras.) By familiar, I mean just find out what is available and what all the items do, not necessarily become proficient in their use.

Also locate and become familiar with appropriate computer resources and technologies available beyond your school through the Internet (e.g., newsgroups, listserves, WWW sites via Netscape, Lynx or another browser, gopher, ftp sites, online public access library catalogs, commercial databases and online services, other community, academic, and government resources.) List those resources you will use for your extension activity on the form you devised for this purpose. Take some time to look through Microsoft's tutorial (http://www.microsoft.com/magazine/guides/internet/) on using the internet.

Investigate and know the roles and computer expertise of the people working in your school and elsewhere (outside experts, colleges and universities, etc.) who might provide information or assistance.

Teaching standards (NSTA, NCTM, etc.) are part of our educational world. One of the requirements for all of your extension projects this semester is to discuss how your extension relates to applicable local, state, or national standards. I know that standards are seen by many as an unnecessary intrusion into your professional life on occasion, but I do think taking them into account helps you focus your extension activities more closely. Please read "Science, Math, and Technology Literacy" in the course supplement.

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